Nick Wotherspoon
C-54 Skymaster 45-543, Berlin Airlift 1949
The first C-54 aircraft arrived at the American Rhein Main Air Force Base in Germany in mid-November 1948 to join the massive effort supplying Berlin during the harsh winter of the Russian blockade. At 13:12 on the 7th January 1949 one such aircraft, 45-543 took off from Rhein Main en route for Burtonwood in the North of England for its routine 200 hour service, on board were four crew, two passengers, a dog and cargo believed to comprise of a number of aircraft engines, being returned to Burtonwood for major overhaul, medical supplies and other equipment. What should have been a routine flight became a struggle for survival as the aircraft encountered poor weather conditions over the North of England, with low cloud and heavy rain and it drifted from its intended course, ending up over the high ground of the Trough of Bowland.
At 16.30 hours with Burtonwood. The pilot, estimated his position using his instruments and the following conversation with the Air Traffic Service Officer, Captain James E. Pound at Burtonwood Tower was recorded:
"Burtonwood Tower this is 45543, over"
"45543 this is Burtonwood Tower, What is your present position and what are your flying conditions?"
"Tower, I am approximately two miles South of the field and have just broken clear of the clouds at 2200 feet. I will be completely VFR [Visual flight rules] in a few seconds, over"
"Roger 45543, this is Burtonwood Tower. Liverpool Control advises they have no known traffic in Control Zone and you are cleared into the Control Zone, over"
The time was 16.42 and Captain Pound then turned the microphone over to the Chief Control Tower Operator on duty, Staff Sergeant Harold C, Skinner, for the local weather report and landing instructions to be given to the pilot, but the aircraft could no longer be raised.
At approx. 16.40 witnesses on the ground near Garstang Lancashire heard the aircraft's engines as it descended through the cloud and were surprised by the especially loud noise of an aircraft flying at such a low altitude. Seconds later and probably before the pilot realised the danger of his situation, there was “a blinding red flash which lit all up, from the direction of Stake House Fell, the light did not last and gradually subsided and went clean out in a few seconds”. Some two hours later the huge tail of the Skymaster was found lying on a steep slope just below the summit of the Fell. Two of the plane’s occupants had been thrown clear of the wreck and lay some 100 yards from the shattered fuselage, the remainder of the crew were still trapped in the wreckage, but obviously dead.
Subsequent investigation found that a strong signal from a BBC radio station North of the Burtonwood base was interfering with the Burtonwood Range signal, causing the radio compass on board aircraft to continue to indicate that the base was to their North even after they had passed to the North of the Range Station. The remainder of the aircraft was later cut up and salvaged, but for many years the heaviest items, including some seven engines, lay on the fell, until they were recovered for scrap in the 1960s. Today the massive undercarriage units, the stainless steel firewalls from the C-54’s nacelles and a few shattered reduction gear assemblies from the aircraft’s own engines remain at the site.
On September 30th 1949, a C-54 Skymaster made the official last flight of the Berlin Airlift and “Operation Vittles” came to an end, with the city having received some 2,326,406 tons of supplies from the West. Today this remarkable humanitarian mission is commemorated by the Berlin Airlift memorial, which stands in a small park at the Platz der Luftbrücke in front of Tempelhof Airport, Berlin. Inaugurated on the 10th July 1951, it is dedicated to the 78 pilots and crew killed in crashes during the Airlift. Their names are inscribed around the base of the memorial and a German inscription above reads: "They gave their lives for the freedom of Berlin serving in the Airlift 1948 - 49". A matching monument stands at the other end of the "air bridge" at the former Rhein-Main Air Base, now Frankfurt Airport, completing the Airlift arch. Among the 31 United States casualties inscribed are six who whilst playing their part, lost their lives on a bleak Lancashire Fell in January 1949.
Online account of the incident including photos of all those aboard 45-543: laituk.org/C-54 45-543.htm
A full account of the incident can be found in: North-West Aircraft Wrecks: published by Pen & Sword, See: laituk.org/NorthWestAircraftWrecks.htm
Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation: www.spiritoffreedom.org/
C-54 Skymaster 45-543, Berlin Airlift 1949
The first C-54 aircraft arrived at the American Rhein Main Air Force Base in Germany in mid-November 1948 to join the massive effort supplying Berlin during the harsh winter of the Russian blockade. At 13:12 on the 7th January 1949 one such aircraft, 45-543 took off from Rhein Main en route for Burtonwood in the North of England for its routine 200 hour service, on board were four crew, two passengers, a dog and cargo believed to comprise of a number of aircraft engines, being returned to Burtonwood for major overhaul, medical supplies and other equipment. What should have been a routine flight became a struggle for survival as the aircraft encountered poor weather conditions over the North of England, with low cloud and heavy rain and it drifted from its intended course, ending up over the high ground of the Trough of Bowland.
At 16.30 hours with Burtonwood. The pilot, estimated his position using his instruments and the following conversation with the Air Traffic Service Officer, Captain James E. Pound at Burtonwood Tower was recorded:
"Burtonwood Tower this is 45543, over"
"45543 this is Burtonwood Tower, What is your present position and what are your flying conditions?"
"Tower, I am approximately two miles South of the field and have just broken clear of the clouds at 2200 feet. I will be completely VFR [Visual flight rules] in a few seconds, over"
"Roger 45543, this is Burtonwood Tower. Liverpool Control advises they have no known traffic in Control Zone and you are cleared into the Control Zone, over"
The time was 16.42 and Captain Pound then turned the microphone over to the Chief Control Tower Operator on duty, Staff Sergeant Harold C, Skinner, for the local weather report and landing instructions to be given to the pilot, but the aircraft could no longer be raised.
At approx. 16.40 witnesses on the ground near Garstang Lancashire heard the aircraft's engines as it descended through the cloud and were surprised by the especially loud noise of an aircraft flying at such a low altitude. Seconds later and probably before the pilot realised the danger of his situation, there was “a blinding red flash which lit all up, from the direction of Stake House Fell, the light did not last and gradually subsided and went clean out in a few seconds”. Some two hours later the huge tail of the Skymaster was found lying on a steep slope just below the summit of the Fell. Two of the plane’s occupants had been thrown clear of the wreck and lay some 100 yards from the shattered fuselage, the remainder of the crew were still trapped in the wreckage, but obviously dead.
Subsequent investigation found that a strong signal from a BBC radio station North of the Burtonwood base was interfering with the Burtonwood Range signal, causing the radio compass on board aircraft to continue to indicate that the base was to their North even after they had passed to the North of the Range Station. The remainder of the aircraft was later cut up and salvaged, but for many years the heaviest items, including some seven engines, lay on the fell, until they were recovered for scrap in the 1960s. Today the massive undercarriage units, the stainless steel firewalls from the C-54’s nacelles and a few shattered reduction gear assemblies from the aircraft’s own engines remain at the site.
On September 30th 1949, a C-54 Skymaster made the official last flight of the Berlin Airlift and “Operation Vittles” came to an end, with the city having received some 2,326,406 tons of supplies from the West. Today this remarkable humanitarian mission is commemorated by the Berlin Airlift memorial, which stands in a small park at the Platz der Luftbrücke in front of Tempelhof Airport, Berlin. Inaugurated on the 10th July 1951, it is dedicated to the 78 pilots and crew killed in crashes during the Airlift. Their names are inscribed around the base of the memorial and a German inscription above reads: "They gave their lives for the freedom of Berlin serving in the Airlift 1948 - 49". A matching monument stands at the other end of the "air bridge" at the former Rhein-Main Air Base, now Frankfurt Airport, completing the Airlift arch. Among the 31 United States casualties inscribed are six who whilst playing their part, lost their lives on a bleak Lancashire Fell in January 1949.
Online account of the incident including photos of all those aboard 45-543: laituk.org/C-54 45-543.htm
A full account of the incident can be found in: North-West Aircraft Wrecks: published by Pen & Sword, See: laituk.org/NorthWestAircraftWrecks.htm
Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation: www.spiritoffreedom.org/